9 December 2016

The Alfred and Edward was a 35 ton ketch under the command of James Conway, master and owner. Mr. Conway had owned the vessel for nine months at the time of the wreck.The vessel with 4 hands on board was on a voyage to Batemans Bay when a strong southerly wind came on the blow, and they put into Ulladulla; but in trying to work the vessel out, the vessel missed stays, and went ashore. The anchor was let go, but would not hold. Every endeavour was made to get the vessel off, but without avail. Everthing movable was saved.

19th December.

Charles Young and Morgan having corroborated the evidence of the master, the Board deliberated, and found that the vessel was lost through missing stays, and that there was no evidence on which to found a charge of default against the master.

The vessel was valued at 600 ponds and insured for 500 pounds.

A ketch is a sailing craft with two masts. The distinguishing characteristic of a ketch is that the forward of the two masts (the "mainmast") is larger than the after mast (the "mizzen").

8 December 2016

The City of Adelaide, from Sydney, was compelled by sheer stress of weather to put into Jervis Bay until the weather abated.

“Shortly after leaving Sydney Heads the vessel encountered a heavy gale with a tremendous south-east sea, and reached Jervis Bay with difficulty on the evening of the 10th May.The passengers presented an address to the Captain M.Intosh, testifying the courage and skill he displayed in the trying circumstances in which he had been placed.”

Today - City of Adelaide is the world's oldest surviving clipper ship.The City of Adelaide was a small fast Clipper, built in Sunderland England and launched on 7th of May 1864.244ft long, beam 33ft, draft 19ft. she had 14 first class cabins and 270 second class cabins.

First Class Cabins.

She was purpously built to transport passengers and cargo between Britain and Australia. Between 1864 and 1887 the ship made 23 annual return voyages from London and Plymouth to Adelaide, South Australia.

City of Adelaide is of composite construction with timber planking on a wrought-iron frame. This method of construction provides the structural strength of an iron ship combined with the insulation of a timber hull.

She was amongst the fastest clippers on the London - Adelaide run, sharing the record of 65 days with the clipper Yatah. She played an important part in the immigration of Australia.

An estimated 250.000 Australians can trace their ancestory to the City of Adelaide.

With the arrival of steamships, the City of Adelaide was sold into the north American timber trade, where it worked for six years as a cargo ship.It saw its next 30 years as an isolation hospital near Southampton, before being taken over by the Royal Navy and used as a drill ship, and as Naval Volunteer Reserve Club rooms on the River Clyde in Scotland.

In 1989 it was moved onto a private slip in Irvine, where it remained until rescued by Australian volunteers and brought to Port Adelaide in 2014.

She is currently undergoing restoration and her final resting place is still being decided.

Australian Troops were engaged in heavy fighting in Europe and the Middle East, horses being the main mode of transport for the Anzac forces meant the army needed a constant supply of fresh horses. This type of advertising would appear in regional newspapers all over the country encouraging people to sell their horses for the war effort.

Have you ever wondered why a ship is most often referred to as a “She’'The web is full of different theories but the following one sums up the general sentiment.

“In truth, the real reason behind various vehicles being referred to as female may never be fully understood. It could simply be a way that predominantly male seafarers came to express their affection for the object that sustained them while in dangerous situations and helped to provide food for their families when coastal fishing became a major part of their lives. Regardless of the origin, the tradition is engraved in human culture all around the world and isn't likely to fade in the near future.”

Another older exlanation, used by most navies around the world.

“A ship is called a she because there is always a great deal of bustle around her; there is usually a gang of men about; she has a waist and stays; it takes a lot of paint to keep her good-looking; it is not the initial expense that breaks you, it is the upkeep; she can be all decked out; it takes an experienced man to handle her correctly; and without a man at the helm, she is absolutely uncontrollable. She shows her topsides, hides her bottom, and when coming into port, always heads for the buoys.”

This beautiful piece of maritime art is from the bow of the Coonatto which was wrecked on Beachy Head in the English Channel on 21 Feb. 1876. It forms part of the Halloran Collection on display at the museum – Continue Reading

29 November 2016

Interestingly in the previous post about the loss of the Bega Captain Bishop when asked about why the Bega sank , he had no explanation and used his survival of the Maitland and Nemesis gales to illustrate how robust the S.S Bega was. During all my research I had never come across mention of these gales before, so after a bit of looking I can now understand why these two gales were mentioned by Captain Bishop and used as an example of the Bega's seaworthiness.

The Maitland Gale.Was named after the 70 metre paddle steamer S.S Maitland was wrecked near the entrance to Broken Bay, on Sydneys doorstep, it remains one of the worst maritime disasters in NSW history.27 people lost their lives after the ship was thrown onto rocks and torn apart. The story of the Maitland is an epic, but tragic tale, it has accounts of bravery, sacrifice, hardship, disorder and drunkenness and well worth your effort to investigate.The gale claimed a number of other ships that night.

The Nemisis Gale.The 73 metre long, 1,393 gross tonnage, iron screwed steamship S.S. Nemisis disappeared during a terrific southerly gale on the 9th of July 1904 taking 32 officers and men with her, The gale increased in fury until it attained the force of a severe hurricane, any ship caught in such conditions and survive had luck on their side.She was passed off Wollongong, "battling brave with the terrific storm." Authorities became aware of the tragedy when large amounts of wreckage washed up onto Cronulla Beach. The vessel was presumed to have gone down in that general location. No bodies were ever found.The remains were discovered off Cape Baily lighthouse by divers on the 25th March following up on reports by fishermen who for years had known there was something there.

28 November 2016

Following on from a previous story about the highly respected skipper known as “Captain Bishop” this is a remarkable story of the sinking of the S.S.Bega while in his command under mysterious circumstances 4 miles off Tathra on the 5th of April 1908.

The Bega was along side the public wharf at Tathra loading passengers and cargo, which included over 2000 cheeses, butter, racehorses, prized livestock for the Royal Easter Show, 176 pigs, furniture, wool and a special consignment of £2000 in gold coinage (561 ounces in weight) for the Sydney Branch of the Commonwealth Bank. Before leaving Bega wharf at 7pm the ship was displaying a slight list to port but this didn't raise any concerns, on checking there was no water found in the hull and this wasn’t unusual and would soon be corrected by carefully adjusting the cargo once the vessel was underway.

The weather was exceptionally clear and calm with a very slight roll from the north accompanied by a light northerly breeze. By 10pm the Bega was off the coast between Tanja and Cuttagee. The list to port had become decidedly worse, The captain ordered the sounding of the fore and aft holds and found no water, the captain ordered the crew to move some of the pigs to the starboard side, this worked for a short time, but the Bega then listed even worrse to the starboard side, he then ordered the pigs to be moved back to the port side, which became impossible as the pigs were now slipping on the steeply angled deck, he then ordered the men to jettison the pigs overboard in an attempt to arrest the list. As the wind was freshening from the starboard the captain decided to turn the vessel very slowly around so the wind and small swell were working to his favor, at first the ship remained upright but suddenly listed even worse to the starboard side.

This proved to be of no avail, the ship was listing bad and getting deeper by the head, suggesting water was getting in by the forepart somewhere. After the ship turned the situation quickly deteriorated, with water now entering the ship at a considerable rate by the port holes and hatches.The captain ordered blue light to be burnt to try and attract a passing steamer seen about 2 miles off, it went un-noticed and the steamer disappeared into the night, by the glare of the blue lights he saw the side upper door open on the starboard side, and water rushing in, in large quantities.

Captain Bishop ordered all passengers to the deck and he moved swiftly to get the life boats in the water as the ship was now at an extreme angle making walking across her decks almost impossible. The vessel carried three lifeboats, one on the port side and two on the starboard side, because of the extreme angle only one on the starboard side was able to be set free of it's davits, this was most fortunate otherwise they would have had only one life boat with to many passengers. All the passengers women, children and men were transferred safely and with great skill and calm, life vests were fitted to all passengers as they left the ship...by this time the lee side was level with the water, unfortunately one passenger a Mr. David Clarke of Candelo, who had already been ill reportedly died of fright during the ordeal and his body was loaded into the now crowded boats.

Captain Bishop despite repeated requests by his crew to leave the sinking ship stayed on board and insisted on one last look around the straining, growning vessel, each lerch of the vessel could have been it’s last.

Second mate - "I had to call out to him to hurray up. He replied, 'I want to have a look round first" and he walked to the engine, looked around, then round the funnels, and into the saloon, before he came on to the raft. I heard him say, " Well, they have all gone, I suppose I should get away to. " He was the last to leave the ship."

Young Sailor - "Yes he looked grand standing there, the last man ." "we all gave him three cheers on entering the raft"

They pulled away from the ship to about 60 yards and aproximatly 20 minutes later the ships bow sank raising the stearn above the water and rapidly decended into the dark depths, as she did the lights on board went out, leaving a deathly stillness and calm over the scene.

Captain Bishop - "The officers and crew worked splendidly, and order was thouroughly well maintained. If this had not been so, there must have been considerable loss of life. The successful launching of the boats and the placing of people in them, was entirly due to the splendid manner in which the officers and crew obeyed orders."

The two boats were lashed together so they would not be separated and the men started to pull for shore, this was extremely difficult as the boats were full of water almost up to their waists. everyone not rowing bailed using whatever means they had...the ladies resorted to using their skirts and by this means they kept the boats afloat and moving, as morning drew near it became very cold, limbs were shaking and teeth chattered, the boats were very crowded, the dead body took up a lot of room and people had to sit on the body, people took turns at standing up and stretching their legs one at a time, any more could have turned a boat over..

Second mate - "I was pulling nearly all of the 11 hours. and I had to rest my feet under the dead man's arm pits."

During the ordeal Captain Bishop kept spirits high by calling on everyone to sing songs like "Pull for the shore sailors, We won't get home till morning, and Good-bye Sydney Town." .

Young sailor - ' Captain Bishop is a great old chap. He kep his cool all the time, and seemed to think of everyone. When we were on the raft, he use to call out now and then, 'Common boys, pull up." and we seemed to be able to pull twice as hard."

Because of the winds it was useless to try and pull directly towards shore, Captain Bishop made the decision to use the current and the slight wind to as much advatage as they could. After 11 hours of rowing and thirteen miles from the place where the ship went down at daybreak they found themslves only 300 yards from shore, but it wasn't until 8 o'clock before they could finally land on a sandy beach. The survivors stripped off their wet cloths and layed them out in the sun to dry, and others took to running about to get the stiffness out of their legs.

Crew man - "We ran about on the beach to get rid of the stiffness, we must have looked like a bunch of savages,"

The Captain walked a mile to the nearest farm house...sending one of the crew ahead, he allerted the farmer a Mr. Koellener who immediatly left to raise the alarm, upon arrival at the farm house the farmers daughter had prepared a bowl of porridge for each person.

Captain Bishop - "My word the food was acceptable."

There was much specultion as to why a ship of this calibre would have suddenly for no reason sprung a leak and sunk.Some suggested foul play, accerting the 2000 pounds of gold could have been a motive for sinking the ship.

Captain Bishop was asked why and how his ship so mysteriously sunk.

Correspondent - 'do you think there is anything suspicious in the affair ?' " Captain Bishop - " I don't know what to think. It is a mystery that cannot be solved. We have been out in the Bega in some terrible weather, including the worst of the Maitland and Nemesis gales. She never gave us any trouble before. It was something down below, but what I cannot say. She was a staunch ship, and could not have opened up. She went down in 30 to 40 fathoms about 4 miles off the shore, so I suppose she will never be located."

Correspondent - 'Did it occur to you to beach the steamer ?"Captain Bishop - "It did occur to me, but there was no time to get to her ashore, and in any case, it might have made matters worse had I tried to do so."

The Bega was recently examined by the Department of Navigation that report states."The Bega was in first class seagoing order and thouroughly equipped. She carried five men in excess of her compliment, and bother here deck and engine room officers are capable men. Not only the captain but the first and second mates are master mariners, while the superintending engineer of the company had charge of the engines. The Bega was completely equipped with life-saving appliance, and in every way our requirements were met."

”Captain Bishop had a reputation for carefulness and great knowledge of the coast line, all the officers were highly qualified, experienced and highly regarded.”

The mystery of why a first class ship like the S.S Bega suddenly foundered in favourable weather will forever remain anothermaritime mystery.

Marine Enquiry Conclusion. 20th June 1908."As to the action of the captain when he realized the danger of his position fault cannot be found, and both he and his officers appear to have done all they could to save life when the ship was abandoned, in which endeavours they were happily successful". No action was taken against Captain Bishop or any member of his crew."

The last words are from Captain Bishop - "Had the weather been rough there would not have been many of us left to tell the tale".

S.S Bega Found.Captain Bishop - "She went down in 30 to 40 fathoms about 4 miles off the shore, so I suppose she will never be located."

After laying in isolation since she sank to her final resting place on the sea floor, the S.S Bega must have thought she would never see another soul sweep across her decks again. But in 2004 with diving equipment Captain Bishop would never have envisaged. A deep diving group calling themselves The Sydney Project slowly descended upon the remains and discovered what was a treasure trove of artifacts lying amongst the rusting remains of her boilers and superstructure.

The discovery.The site of the Bega wreck was the subject of years of searching by two Bermagui men, retired sub-sea engineer Fred Billington and charter boat operator, Davidb Prior. The men thought they had found the site in May 2004, when they passed over it with a magnetometer. They verified their find in September 2004 when using a homemade drop video camera recorded the remains of an iron steamship. The NSW Heritage Office received notification of the discovery of the wreck by Fred Billington and David Prior in September, 2004. REF: NSW Heritage OfficeThis is afascinating link to follow with many photographs of the untouched wreck and it’s objects.

REF: NSW Heritage Office – Follow this link to read how the Heritage of a wreck of this nature is handled, most informative.The wreck is a Heritage Listed Wreck and nothing can be disturbed or recovered from the wreck. Her final remains will one day dissolves back into the elements she was made from, and her artifacts will sink below the sands leaving nothing for future generations to see.

Gold.As to the whereabouts of the 2000 ponds of gold sovereigns that remains another mystery.

26 November 2016

Jervis Bay had a rare visitor on Friday the 25th November, The impressive Royal Australian Airforce C-17A Globetrotter was seen doing repeated circles over the top of Huskisson and Woollamia.I managed to take a couple of quick shots as it appeared between the trees over my property.

The C-17A Globemaster III provides Air Force with an unprecedented capacity for strategic air lift. It allows Australia to rapidly deploy troops, supplies, combat vehicles, heavy equipment and helicopters anywhere in the world.

The C-17A Globemaster is a high-wing four-engine heavy transport. It has three times the carrying capacity of the C-130 Hercules, allowing Australia to rapidly deploy troops, supplies, combat vehicles, heavy equipment and helicopters anywhere in the world. It can carry up to 77 tonnes, ranging from an Abrams Tank, four Bushmaster vehicles, three Black Hawk helicopters, or be converted to an aero-medical evacuation capacity.

Based at RAAF Base Amberley, the eight C-17As provided the backbone of the air link for Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan. Capable of landing on dirt strips as short as 3,500 feet, it carried supplies and personnel between Australia and the Middle East.

In addition to supporting personnel on deployments, Air Force C-17As have been an integral part of disaster relief and humanitarian missions. Recent activities have included Operation QUEENSLAND FLOOD ASSIST, Operation CHRISTCHURCH ASSIST, Operation PHILIPPINES ASSIST, Operation SOUTHERN INDIAN OCEAN, Operation BRING THEM HOME and Operation OKRA.

24 November 2016

A life on board any sea going vessel in the days before radio communication was possible between ships, and ship and shore, meant men had to be resilient, brave and self reliant.

In 1917 a seaman known as Captain Bishop died quiety in Sydney, captain Bishop was remembered as a fine captain and was very popular with other skippers and the travelling public who put their lives, hopes and dreams in the hands of the crew everytime they boarded a vessel and put to sea.

Captain Bishop spent many years in the service of the Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation Company. This meant he was a regular visitor to many of the coastal towns on the south coast, transporting valued cargo, livestock, and people between ports.

In a long career at sea he would have had many adventures, and I'm sure he would have been a very interesting man to talk to.

Proper preperation is essential to conduct a safe trip at sea, foremost the captains were reliant on fair weather, which in those days was more based on a captains experience and knowledge than the accurate forecasts we have today. Well maintained machinery and an experienced engineer were essential to get to their destinations. In what could either be described as bad luck or good luck depends on how you look at it, not everything went to plan for Captain Bishop.

He was involved in a series of dramatic incidents during his days on the south coast run.

He was chief officer on the Kameruka when she ran aground at Broulee near Moruya, and became a total wreck 1897;He was the skipper of the Bega when she mysteriously foundered near Tathra in calm conditions 1907; at the time of the sinking he had been at sea for 50 years, in command for 27 years and master of the Bega for 10 years.And was the skipper of the Eden when she had a lucky escape after running into St Georges Head at Jervis Bay in 1909.

Maybe thinking his good luck might have run out, he dropped anchor and gave up the sea after the last incident, and for some years conducted a produce business at Balmain.

Whichever way you look at it, Captain Bishop had an exciting life, Im sure there were times of monotony, but Im also sure the majority of his life at sea was a combination of adventure, excitement, trepidation and satisfaction.

23 November 2016

Sunday November 27th 2016 will mark 60 years since Firefly aircraft VX 381 and 887 collided over Jervis Bay near Moona Moona Creek taking the life of two young pilots during training exercises.

A memorial service will be held on the water this Sunday to pay respect for the two airmen that lost their lives over Jervis Bay on the 17th Novermber 1956.

Sub-Lieut. Arthur Arundel, R.N., of Hull, England, the pilot, and Midshipman Noel Francis Fogarty, R.A.N., of Newmarket, Brisbane died when their Firefly 887 spiraled into Jervis Bay at 250 knots and disintegrated on impact killing both men.

The second plane VX 381 despite loosing a large section of wing manage to ditch in Hare Bay near Callala Bay, both pilots managed to get out of the fast sinking plane into a life raft and survived this terrible disaster.

Despite a very extensive search, the remains of 887 and the flyers Arundel and Fogarty were never recovered.

VX 381 was discovered by Diver Charlie Pickering by accident in 1983. At the same time I got to know Charlie as a member of the Jervis Bay Protection Committee, the committee was set up by local divers to stop the mass destruction of the sea floor in Jervis Bay by uncontrolled scallop trawling. I dived on VX 381 soon after.

The where about’s of the second plane 887 was always a mystery, and was often discussed by local diving friends.

Local diver Greg Stubbs who dived on VX 381 in 2005 was inspired to try and find the missing plane, after many years of frustrating research and diving he found the shattered remains of Firefly 887 in small pieces scattered across a large area.

This search led Greg to try and find out if either of the other two pilots from VX 381 were still living. By pure chance Greg managed to find one of the surviving pilots via information that came to him when tourists from England called into his mechanic business for assistance. Greg in conversation told them of his search and almost immediatly and unbelievably the tourists contacted people in England which led him to discover one of the remaining pilots.

Sub-Lieut. David Eagles, R.N., of Yorkshire, is now 81, and was the pilot of VX 381.After talking to David, and eventually meeting him in person in February when David traveled to Australia. Greg made plans to have a memorial service on the anniversary of the collision which took place on the 17th November 1956, to show respect and to honour the pilots involved in this amazing piece of Jervis Bay history.

Greg has since managed to find and contact the navigator of VX 381 Midshipman Donald Geoffrey Debus, R.A.N., who now lives in Canberra.

It's an amazing story, and a credit to one man's dogged determination to bring closure to the families and honor these young men who just by the very nature of their job risked their lives every time they took to the air.